Kim Perrot (January 18, 1967 – August 19, 1999) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. She played in the WNBA for the

Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...

Biography

Perrot attended the

University of Southwestern Louisiana The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

(now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) and played four years there as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

. In one game against the University of Southeastern Louisiana, she scored 58 points, the third most in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

history. After playing six seasons in Europe, Perrot became the regular

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

for the Houston Comets, helping them to win WNBA championships in 1997 and 1998. At 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m), she was noted there for her ferocious play and was a crowd favorite."WNBA's Kim Perrot dies at 32"
by Terri Langford, ''Salon'', August 19, 1999 Her best friend was Comets star Cynthia Cooper. Perrot wore jersey number 10 with the Comets organization, which subsequently retired her jersey. She averaged 7.2 points, 3.3 steals, and 2.9 rebounds per game during her two seasons as a member of the Comets. In her last regular season game with the Comets, exactly one year before her death, she scored ten points against the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

. In her last overall game, she scored 13 points in Game 3 of the

1998 WNBA Finals The 1998 WNBA Championship was the championship series of the 1998 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Houston Comets, top-seeded team of the league, defeated the Phoenix Mercury, third-seeded team of the league, two ga ...

, helping Houston to its second straight title. In February 1999, Perrot was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

. While she was not on the basketball court with the Comets that year, many of her teammates considered her to be a spiritual uplifting force for the team. The cancer had already

metastasized Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, then, ...

to her brain. Perrot underwent surgery and radiation treatments to eradicate the tumors in her head, but declined chemotherapy recommended by her doctors. Perrot went to Mexico to seek alternative methods to battle cancer. Many attribute her death to that move—but metastasized lung cancer gave her no chance of survival with conventional medicine. In Mexico, she was joined by Cooper. Two days before her death, she took a

Medevac Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...

flight back to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

from

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

, with Cooper and members of the Perrot family flying along. She was the first active player in the WNBA to die. After her death, the Comets went on to win a third straight WNBA title, and a tearful Cooper celebrated what the team called "#3 for #10". She was posthumously awarded a third championship ring and her #10 jersey was retired, thus making her the first player in league history to have her number retired. The WNBA subsequently renamed their sportsmanship award the

Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award The Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the league's inaugural season, to the player who most "exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship on the court—ethical behavior, fair p ...

in her honor. Comets fans raised money to create "Kim's Place", an area at the

MD Anderson Cancer Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (colloquially MD Anderson Cancer Center) is a comprehensive cancer center in Houston, Texas. It is the largest cancer center in the U.S. and one of the original three comprehensive cancer centers ...

in Houston where kids with cancer can play games, sports, and relax. Also, the "Kim Perrot Leadership Award" was created by the Houston Can! Academy (a charter school for at risk youth). While ill with cancer, Perrot had made many public appearances and given motivational speeches, mostly at schools. Perrot is buried at the Our Lady of the Assumption Cemetery in

Carencro, Louisiana Carencro (; historically french: St.-Pierre) is a city in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is a suburb of the nearby city of Lafayette, Louisiana, Lafayette. The population was 7,526 at the 2010 United S ...

Southwestern Louisiana statistics

Source

Career statistics

Regular season

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, 28 , , 24 , , 24.7 , , .364 , , .283 , , .405 , , 2.7 , , 3.1 , , 2.5 , , 0.1 , , 2.3 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

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, 30 , , 30 , , 32.9 , , .404 , , .269 , , .700 , , 3.1 , , 4.7 , , 2.8 , , 0.0 , , 2.7 , , 8.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 2 years, 1 team , 58 , , 54 , , 28.9 , , .387 , , .275 , , .598 , , 2.9 , , 4.0 , , 2.6 , , 0.0 , , 2.5 , , 7.2

Playoffs

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, 2 , , 2 , , 38.0 , , .227 , , .214 , , .750 , , 4.5 , , 2.0 , , 3.0 , , 0.0 , , 4.5 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

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, 5 , , 5 , , 36.4 , , .375 , , .375 , , .417 , , 3.2 , , 5.0 , , 1.6 , , 0.0 , , 3.4 , , 8.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 2 years, 1 team , 7 , , 7 , , 36.9 , , .323 , , .300 , , .500 , , 3.6 , , 4.1 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.7 , , 8.1

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perrot, Kim 1967 births 1999 deaths American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Sweden American women's basketball players Basketball players from Louisiana Deaths from cancer in Texas Deaths from lung cancer Houston Comets players Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball players Point guards Undrafted Women's National Basketball Association players 20th-century American women 20th-century American people

Biography

Southwestern Louisiana statistics

Career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links